Jewish Spiritual Renewal:Derek Eretz Zuta + Rabbah:Shabbat 5/26/12(aka Derech Eretz, Derekh Eretz )Shalom my dear Chaverim, Talmidim, v' Rabbanim, friends, students and fellow rabbis:An oneg, joy-filled, Shabbat and Shavuot this coming weekend to all.We continue with our exploration into the Talmudic Tractates of Derek Eretz Zuta and Rabbah. (aka Derech Eretz Zuta, aka Derech Eretz Rabbah. As was mentioned, zuta is Aramaic for 'small', and rabbah is 'large').Remember that Derek Eretz is not about Jewish ritual. It is about how we are to treat one another and what traits of character, middot, we are to try to develop. The lessons are universal and ecumenical. The development of character traits and Jewish spiritual renewal transformation is called Mussar.For those new to the class Baruch ha Ba! Welcome!You can access last week's class atFrom here you will find links to preceding classes in this series. So, together we continue:TALMUD BAVLITRACTATEDEREk ERETZ ZUTA(aka Derech Eretz, Derekh Eretz)Today we will continue the last chapter of Talmud Bavli Tractate Derek Eretz Zuta, Chapter Ten verses 10:3-5.CHAPTER X
THE CHAPTER ON PEACE
10:3: R. Joshua said: Great is peace, for at the time Israel arose and said [Exod. xxiv. 7]: "All that the Lord hath spoken will we do and listen," the Holy One was pleased to give unto them His Torah and blessed them with peace, as it is written [Ps. xxix. 11]: "The Lord will bless his people with peace."10:4: Hezekiah said: Great is peace, for at every commandment in the Torah it is written "if," as, for instance, Exod. xxiii. 4, "If thou meet," etc., which means, if such a thing occurs to you, you must do the commandment; but concerning peace, it is different, there it is written [Ps. xxxiv. 15]: "Seek peace, and pursue it," which means, seek peace at the place where you are, and if you do not find it, seek it in other places.10:5: Great is peace: about all the journeys of Israel it is written, "And they removed . . . and . . . encamped," which means they removed in strife and encamped in strife, but when they came to Sinai there was no more strife, and they encamped in peace, as it is written [Exod. xix. 2]: "And Israel encamped opposite the Mount" (i.e., all Israel were united). The Holy One, blessed be He, then said: "Because Israel hates discord and loves peace, and all are united, this is a favorable time that I should give them my Torah."
Let us begin with: ''R. Joshua said: Great is peace, for at the time Israel arose and said [Exod. xxiv. 7]: "All that the Lord hath spoken will we do and listen," the Holy One was pleased to give unto them His Torah and blessed them with peace, as it is written [Ps. xxix. 11]: "The Lord will bless his people with peace...''
Now we have learned in the Talmud and Midrash that while the Torah says the Hebrews were going to accept the laws of the Torah unconditional, by blind obedience to them (will do), and later study them (will listen), our rabbis teach that God had to threaten the Israelites by holding Mount Sinai over their heads, threatening to drop it on them, if they didn't accept Torah. {Talmud Bavli Tractate Shabbat 88a}.
Regardless, by sticking with the spiritual and ethical lessons of the Torah we will live a life of peace, as it is said: "Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace,(Prov. 3:17). ''
As I have taught in Jewish Spiritual Renewal. most of us have control over our own thoughts, speech and actions. We have the ability to control these only if we keep our yetzer ha ra, our selfish ego and will, at bay. We have control over nothing else. If we think we do, we are being delusional. We have free will as do others.
God has told Israel, "My children, I have created the Evil Inclination, and I have created the Torah as an antidote against it. I wrote in My Torah: 'If you do good, you will be more powerful. If you do not do good, sin awaits crouching at the door; it desires to control you, but you can overpower it' (Gen. 4:7).
"As long as you are engrossed in the Torah and doing its mitzvot, you will not be controlled by the Evil Inclination. This is why the Torah says: 'If you do good, you will be more powerful'. But when you are not engrossed in the Torah, you will be under the control of the Evil Inclination, as the verse continues, 'If you do not do good, sin awaits crouching at the door.'
"Not only that," God said, "but the Evil Inclination will spend all its time and energies trying to make you sin, which is why the verse says 'it desires to control you.'
"If you want to, you can overpower the Evil Inclination, as it says, '...it desires to control you, but you can overpower it.' ( Talmud Bavli Kiddushin 30b).
If we choose to live in peace, we must negate our selfish will and align it with God's will. Our inner peace, our integration, our shlema, wholeness, comes from our self esteem understanding that this is our true purpose in life. We have inner peace, peace in the home, and peace in the community. How? By us understanding that living by Torah means all of our derekim, paths, are towards peace.
Let us continue with: 10:4: Hezekiah said: Great is peace, for at every commandment in the Torah it is written "if," as, for instance, Exod. xxiii. 4, "If thou meet," etc., which means, if such a thing occurs to you, you must do the commandment; but concerning peace, it is different, there it is written [Ps. xxxiv. 15]: "Seek peace, and pursue it," which means, seek peace at the place where you are, and if you do not find it, seek it in other places.''
Hezekiah was one of Judea's better kings and witnessed the Assyrian destruction of Israel and the beginning of the Babylonian siege of Judea and Jerusalem. The Talmud (Bava Batra 15a) credits him with overseeing the compilation of the biblical books of Isaiah, Proverbs, Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes.
Most of our mitzvot are time bound or situational. If it is Shabbat, we do or do not do certain things. If it is Purim, we read the Megillah Esther, and do other rituals. If we are in business, we must have honest scales. If we see our enemy's donkey having trouble with what it is carrying, we are to help upright it. However with peace, as well as justice, we are to seek out places that are without peace and justice, and work toward establishing a peaceful and just environment. We are to be like the disciples of Aaron, loving peace, pursuing peace, and bringing people closer to Torah and to each other. (Talmud Pirkei Avot 1:12).
Let us end today with: 10:5: Great is peace: about all the journeys of Israel it is written, "And they removed . . . and . . . encamped," which means they removed in strife and encamped in strife, but when they came to Sinai there was no more strife, and they encamped in peace, as it is written [Exod. xix. 2]: "And Israel encamped opposite the Mount" (i.e., all Israel were united). The Holy One, blessed be He, then said: "Because Israel hates discord and loves peace, and all are united, this is a favorable time that I should give them my Torah."
We are being taught again as found many times in Talmudic Judaism that peace is the most important aspect of Judaism. Without peace life is not full of joyousness, freedom and happiness. God would not give Israel the Torah until they were at peace with one another.
When we have makloket, strife, within a synagogue, among synagogues, among rabbis, among different sects of Judaism, among individual Jews, God weeps. His Holy Torah leaves our hands, as we become undeserving of it. "If Israel will accept the Torah, the universe will continue to exist. If not, I will return the world to empty void it was at first" (Talmud Bavli, Shabbat 88a).
Allow me to put this in modern terms. There are about 15 million Jews on Earth.Our global population is six billion. Jews make up just 0.25% of the population of the world. Amazingly, 99.75% are not Jewish.
We are an endangered species. As a Rabbi I have observed Jewish people with 'Save the Whales' bumper sticker on their cars, treat fellow Jews horridly. I have seen Jews at Yom ha Shoah or Israel Independence Day events, wail over dead Jews they have never met, yet snub Jews at the receptions that follow.
Every time we label a sect, and compartmentalize Jews, the statistic of 0.25% becomes smaller. When we say 10% of Jews are "orthodox", we've now made a sub-species, if you'll allow me to stay with my metaphor, that is 0.025% of the globe's population.
The Midrash tells us that God created the Torah and the idea of Jews two thousand years before He created the universe (Beresheit Rabbah 8). He didn't think of creating Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots, Reform, Orthodox, Belzers, Satmars, Chabadniks ,Mitnagdim, Humanists, Conservatives, Reconstructionists, Renewalists, Litvaks, Galitzianers, Ashkenazis, Sephardim, or Karaites.
Every time we define and group and re-group ourselves, we make ourselves more and more insignificant. The statistical reality is every time we divide and sub divide ourselves into groups, and have makloket, strife among ourselves, we make ourselves more and more insignificant.
In the Creator's eyes, we are all connected as One People. God cried out to us through his Prophet Malachi 2:10 : ''Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?"
Any synagogue or society where one puts his petty will above what is good and just in God's eyes, so that there is ego bumping into ego, causing strife and no shalom, is due to fail, no matter how wealthy in material things they have. They become morally bankrupt.
Judaism is the first ethical monotheistic religion. Love of God without love and peace with our fellows is like a restaurant with a menu and no food. "J = ME2", ''Judaism equals Monotheism times Ethics Squared."
We discuss the middah, character trait, of living in shalom, throughout the majority of chapters in ''The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew'' (http://www.jewishspiritualrenewal.net/ ) as well as in most chapters of ''A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud'' (http://www.jewishspiritualrenewal.net/index.html#Compendium2 ) .What are your ideas about living in peace? How has learning Talmud's Derek Eretz helped you in your interpersonal relationships? How has understanding the spiritual and ethical teachings of Judaism helped you live a more joyous life?Next class, Baruch ha Shem, we will continue with Chapter Ten. Thank you for joining me.For those who want a d'var Torah on Parasha BaMidbar from ''A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud'' please click on Rabbi Arthur Segal: RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH RENEWAL: BAMIDBAR: I-THOU RELATIONS : MARTIN BUBER or http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com/2011/05/rabbi-arthur-segal-jewish-renewal_20.html .Shabbat Shalom:
Rabbi Arthur Segal_
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Maker of Shalom (Oseh Shalom) help make us deserving of Shalom beyond all human comprehension!!
THE HANDBOOK TO JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: A PATH OF TRANSFORMATION FOR THE MODERN JEW
A SPIRITUAL AND ETHICAL COMPENDIUM TO THE TORAH AND TALMUD
THE PATH AND WISDOM FOR LIVING AT PEACE WITH OTHERS: A MODERN COMMENTARY ON TALMUD TRACTATES DEREK ERETZ ZUTA AND RABBAH: VOL. 1
LOVE PEACE AND PURSUE PEACE: A MODERN COMMENTARY ON TALMUD TRACTATES DEREK ERETZ ZUTA AND RABBAH: VOL. 2
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